Flohmarkt Find: Arkonaplatz
by James Glazebrook
This great post about Mauerpark over on glamcanyon perfectly illustrates everything I’ve started to hate about Berlin’s favourite fleamarket. If I wanted to be surrounded by worthless crap and people making tits out of themselves, I’d have stayed in East London. A couple of weeks ago, we balked at the prospect of another Sunday crushed between the crowds and the Cold War tat, and decided to check out the flohmarkt at nearby Arkonaplatz. We were pleasantly surprised to find both elbow room and stuff that we actually wanted to buy – leather chairs and sofas in excellent condition and a quirky little black-and-brass magazine rack. Sadly we decided the deer hoof coat rack was more hunting lodge than Black Lodge, so we left it behind. Maybe next time…
[...] this is a real fleamarket. This Aladin’s Cave, tucked in beside the Arena at Treptow, makes Arkonaplatz look like IKEA and Mauerpark look like a catwalk. We happened across the Hallentrödelmarkt (indoor [...]
Oh my… those signage letters are amazing. Next time I come to Berlin it’ll be with an empty suitcase so that I can cart home all my flea market finds! Last time Lewis stopped me from buying EVERYTHING!
totally with you. i loathe the mauerpark fleamarket. – arkonaplatz can get busy in the summer, but never as mad as mauerpark (which was good some years ago.)
We didn’t notice anywhere to chill, we just got some photos and some furniture and got out! Can see us going back quite reglar though, until it gets oversubscribed of course!
*their … ups
We went there this Sunday too! Loved it…not crowded at all, amazing. And did you go to that little garden in the end with all the benches? So relaxing…there’s also a place just off the platz with delicious cakes (the one everyone went to get there ice creams from). We noticed that exact same deer hoof coat rack…a little on the creepy side to be honest though!
Shhhh we’re giving away all the well-guarded secrets!
Actually I think what’s keeping the crowds away is the lack of crowds themselves – unlike us most people want to be where all the other people are…
Thanks for the tip – we’ll check it out!
Ever since I went to Arkonaplatz for the first time on my birthday two years ago (Dec 27, so we’re not talking Berlin summer sun here), I’ve really treasured it. The stuff they sell is well-edited, but not picked over and cheaply made like a lot what you find at Mauer Park.
Do you know they also have a pretty good bio food market every week? I think it’s on Friday but I’m not sure exactly. It’s a lot smaller than Kollwitzplatz and also blissfully FREE of crowds…